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Texans' Cornerback Shares Heartwarming Story at Local Camp
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- Texans' Cornerback Shares Heartwarming Story at Local Camp
The National Football League is full of inspirational stories. Several players overcame poor early odds to become professional players.
Among the success stories are former college walk-ons, undrafted free agents and players who were not even starters at their positions in high school. Some played less than three years of football before going on to play in college.
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One player who beat the odds in Houston Texans cornerback Brandon Codrington . Speaking at a local youth football camp in Houston, Codrington drove home just how important self-belief and determination is in a player reaching his goals.
Here's some of what Codrington shared to media present at the youth football camp.
"Your size doesn't matter. It's always funny when I run into people on the street who may recognize me or we get to talking and tell them I play professional football. They always say, 'Oh, wow,' because they expect someone in the NFL to be so big. ...
The biggest thing is just telling the kids that anything you want to do, you can achieve it. I had dreams and aspirations of playing professional football since I was the age of seven when I started playing Pop Warner. Stay in school, make sure your grades are good.
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Being a walk-on in college, I didn't have any offers so I had to make sure that the classroom was taken care of so that I could walk on to get into schools as a student and then try to pursue my dreams of football."
Buffalo Bills cornerback Brandon Codrington (29) carries the ball on a kick-off return against the Atlanta Falcons during the second half of a game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Codrington is certainly a success story. After minimal interest out of high school, the now Texans cornerback landed at North Carolina Central, a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). He walked on at North Carolina Central.
Underestimated by nearly every other university he considered, Codrington climbed his way to the top, eventually earning his place in the NFL.
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Codrington is the type of player with which undersized rising high school football players can relate. He is a blueprint for fellow five-foot-nine athletes trying to make it into professional football.
In Codrington, athletes can learn that height, or lack thereof, does not have to define you. And it's not where you start, but where you finish that matters.
While his detractors may once have doubted his ability to play at the professional level, the Texans cornerback is getting the last laugh. He will hope to help the Texans reach the next level in 2026.
